I did the second of my two annual Bald Eagle surveys
along the Illinois levee between I-255 and Fort de
Chartres on Saturday the 27th, and had very low
numbers of eagles. I had only 10 eagles in 40 miles of
count route, and 5 of those were in one spot at the
mouth of the creek that empties into the Mississippi
River just below Fort de Chartres. My previous count
of 2007, which I did on January 16, only netted 4
eagles over the same route, and on both days,
visibility was excellent. My explanation for the low
numbers is that the winter has been so mild that the
eagles haven't been forced to come as far south to
find open water as they had been in previous years
(and I should except 2006, because my counts were
abnormally low last year, too). I wonder if anybody
would like to comment on eagle numbers at other
locations, such as RMBS, this year compared to
previous years.
I did see a couple of very interesting things. One was
a TURKEY VULTURE flying WNW from the levee toward the
river, just about opposite Selma Hollow in MO, and the
other was a coyote that crossed the levee in front of
my truck as I drove south and, as he reached the woods
on the river side of the levee, started "pronking" or
"stotting" (hopping on all 4 feet the way a springbok
does in the videos of African wildlife when he has
escaped an attack by a predator). I've never heard of
a predator doing that, only prey animals, and it was a
real surprise to see it.
Richard Call
Swansea, IL
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